


You Learn To Love It After A While

by orphan_account



Series: It Could Kill You After A While [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Violence, i dont even know right now, i'll add more when i figure it out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2017-12-08 21:30:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 3,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/766228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is John Strider and you are a professional killer.<br/>And you really don't have time to babysit this chick.</p><p> </p><p>Sequel to 'You Get Used To It After A While'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i probably wont update this consistently at all  
> but people who read my things already know that  
> and yes this is a sequel and if you dont read the first one you probably wont understand this one

Your name is John Strider and you are a professional killer.  
You had honestly thought you were home free, but she came back.  
She came back, and you were so completely annoyed, and somewhat frustrated.  
You had left a note for them but she completely ignored it and came back.  
You supposed that yes, at least she left you alone for a while, but it would have been better had she left you alone completely.  
So far you’d managed to get around without her seeing you.  
But you couldn’t stay lucky forever. She ran into you, purposely, obviously, in a store and you knew it was her before you looked down.  
“Shit.” You cursed under your breath.  
“I knew I’d find you here.”  
“Leave. Now. I don’t have time to babysit you.” You knew if she decided to follow you around she’d get hurt, but growing up without her, and in the environment you did, you really didn’t care.  
“I don’t need babysitting.”  
“That's what you think.” You proceeded to exit the store without paying for anything, glad that the cashier hadn’t seen you pick anything up.  
By the time she got outside to try to follow you, you were long gone.  
It was time to find Jake and get him to dig up some info.


	2. Chapter 2

Jake had told you that she was back for an undetermined amount of time, but it didn’t look like she was leaving any time soon.   
You weren’t happy with that bit of information.  
You went back home that night and told Dave about your little collision. He’d already known she was in town, he was the one who told you.  
He suggested you go hide out at Jake's again, but you declined. She knew where that was.

It was two days before you saw her again, and when you saw her it wasn’t under the best circumstances, considering it was 2AM and you were in the middle of a job and _how did Bro not see her? He’s supposed to be standing watch._  
You knew that all witnesses were to be taken care of there and then but you figured it wouldn’t be a good idea if someone was waiting for her to be in contact with them in the morning.  
You called to Dave silently, he knew the signals, and he snuck up and knocked her out with ease.  
What you weren’t expecting though, was her to be loaded with various guns. How did you not notice she had them on her?  
Of course you didn’t let the Striders put her in your old room, but you did put her in a locked room. You knew as soon as she woke up, because she started yelling at you and banging around.   
It wasn’t until you heard the crash of a lamp on the floor that you went to see her.  
“You didn’t have to break that. It was a nice lamp.” You lean in the doorway casually.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i probably can't write jade at all ugh  
> alsew its doignthe thing to me  
> where the one note stays there on every chapter why this

You’d made Dave help you put her in a nice room, one with working lights, and a bed.  
“What the hell is going on? And where are my guns?” She’s standing in the middle of the room, fists clenched.  
“You’re a witness, and they’re safely locked up in my room. Can’t have you going around trying to shoot me.” You smirk.  
Dave comes up behind you, wraps his arms around your waist and puts his chin on your shoulder.  
“I was wondering if you went to talk to her. Good thing you did, Bro was about to snap and come down here himself.”  
“Wouldn’t that have been great.” You say, voice dripping in sarcasm.  
“So what are you going to do with me then?” she asks, very clearly still angry.  
“We’re gonna take you and drop you off at the hotel, and you’re not gonna tell anyone about this. And then you’re gonna get on a plane, and you’re gonna go home, and forget all about me.” You inform.  
“And you think I’m just going to go along with it all? After what I just watched you do? That was a person!” she hisses out at you.  
“And this is my life.” You snap. “There was a reason I told you to forget about me. This is it.”  
Dave is still hanging onto you, and he’s probably the only thing keeping you from really snapping. You two continue arguing for a while longer until you finally get fed up. You then continue to blindfold her and take her out to the van, and drop her off at her hotel.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOPS SEW THAT DIDNT QUITE WORK OUT THE WAY I'D HOPED   
> this is the actual chapter 4 and the chapter 3 that is there now is the one that i'm sticking with cause it felt like it was written better than the previous one  
> i'M SORRY FOR THE MIX UP NEXT TIME I'LL LOOK BEFORE I POST

Of course it wasn’t until after you’d dropped her off you figured out Bro let her slip past him. You were an idiot for thinking anything different.  
The question was why, though.  
“Bro is gonna murder you. Is she really worth that?” Dave asks, and no, it really isn’t, but it’d be bad if they traced it back to you considering That Man knew what you looked like. But then again, there was no record of you anywhere after your “death”.  
You were sure Bro wouldn’t actually hurt you too badly though, you were a big part of the jobs. Even though you had grown some since you’d gotten here, you were still the smallest. So you were the one that always had to crawl through tight spaces to let the other two in.

You asked Jake to have his guys keep an eye on her.  
He informs you that it looks like she has no intentions of leaving, but hasn’t contacted anyone of authority.   
It’s a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on another note this chapter alsew isnt quite what i wanted it to be but i have more chapters to write/fix i already have some written to give me an idea of what i want to happen in them  
> yes continue on with your evening/really early morning wow no wonder i fucked up its really early i should be in be d


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm pretty sure i didnt post the same chapter twice this time   
> thank the anon who let me know before though you are a nice anon
> 
> its 5 am i should be sleeping   
> i hope m tiredness doesnt show too badly in this chapter   
> yes continue

Of course she has to make it her mission to run into you as many times as she can.  
You don’t even know how she figures out where you are.   
You don’t even know how she just shows up. You can know for a fact that she’s not around, but then she suddenly appears and walks into you. It never fails to annoy you.   
This continues for a long time, but she never really says anything, you think it’s more of her way of saying ‘I’m still here and I’m not going anywhere’.   
You let it be until she starts finding you at night, usually just before or after you have a job.  
And one night you finally grab her and pull her to off to the side where Dave and Bro couldn’t hear.  
“I don’t have time to babysit you. You’re gonna get hurt or killed when someone finds out you’re hanging around us.” Your voice is stern.  
“Well if you didn’t do things like this it wouldn’t be dangerous! They kidnapped you and now look what you’re doing!”  
“They didn’t kidnap me they saved my life! I would actually be dead right now if they hadn’t saved me.”  
She gives you a look that says she doesn’t believe you at all, but she lets it go for the time being.  
You let her go and head back over to where Dave and Bro were. You assumed she left.


	6. Chapter 6

You let out a big sigh when Bro comes home one night from a job alone and tells you Jade got nabbed. You're slightly worried but you'd never tell anyone that.  
"I fucking warned her."  
"Apparently she didn't listen." Dave chimes in.  
"She followed me looking for you." Bro starts, "I may have led her into the way of the enemy territory to get a point across. I have to admit though, she's got more fight than I thought she would have."  
You let out another exasperated sigh at Bro. Of course he got her caught on purpose.  
"Are we gonna go get her?" Dave asks. He has an amused smirk on his face.  
"Depends. What do you think pet? Should we go get her?" You'd think he'd drop that name by now, but you guess it's a reminder of your low status. No matter how seemingly free you are.  
You let out yet another sigh and say yeah, you probably should. 

The three of you make a plan together on this mission and you're pretty surprised. Bro always the one to make the plans and only ever occasionally lets Dave help. Bro and Dave are pretty tight, too. Bro is just an asshole at first glance. And second, and third. Well, he's an asshole till you've lived with him long enough. He grows on you. 

Though halfway through the retrieval of Jade, he announces, "By the way, we're moving to New York."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maaaaaan  
> i'm sorry that took sew long to get out and post but i have ideas now and i was all writers blocked and busy before  
> alsew i will be posting a drabble thing probably that goes between this chapter and last  
> thank you for sticking with me though  
> and sorry after sew long the chapter is still sew short ugh hopefully i'll figure out how to drag out chapters more soon  
> edit: WOOOW i'm an idiot i forgot to proof it first for typos


	7. Chapter 7

When you all get back home, Jade knocked out before you left with her for your own sake, you ask Bro what he meant by moving.   
"Yeah, kids. Start packing. I got a place all picked out for us. You can expect to meet someone else when we get there too."  
You and Dave exchange looks. You go back to your room and Dave explains.   
"We move every so often. We moved quite a bit till I found you. This is the longest we've been in a place. Sometimes we run out of people to off, or we have a run in with the enemy, or a cop gets on our trail. Either way I guess it is about time we moved." You two sit on the bed and maneuver yourselves into a comfy cuddle.   
"How long have we been here? I thought you said it'd been years."  
"I might've exaggerated."  
"Of course you did."  
"It has been a long time though."  
You two lay there for a while in silence, simply enjoying each others company.  
Your mind wanders and soon you're thinking of this place and how completely shitty it is and you start to wonder how you can even afford New York.  
"How can you even afford a place in New York?"  
"I know it looks like we don't have much money, but we're loaded John."   
"And you didn't think to tell me that?" You move to look at him.   
"You never asked." No sooner did he finish that sentence did you hear the telling jade-is-up lamp crashing to pieces on the floor.  
As you get up and start over to the door you idly wonder how you're going to dispose of all the bodies in various stages of decay.   
Dave calls good luck from the bed behind you. You won't tell her but you've labeled her off limits to the other two. So she's safe, at least for the time being. 

"You know, you could just yell. With you around we're going to run out of lamps before we know it."   
"You could always leave me at my hotel room." She snaps. She's in an annoyed stance. Hands at her hips and lip ever so slightly curled upward. Like a dog. Maybe it's a slightly angry stance? You're not sure. Either way, you're not backing down.  
"You can't take care of yourself out there on your own, so you'll be staying here for now."   
She looks shocked and enraged and you're a little intimidated but you keep your ground.   
"Oh no I'm not! You can't keep me here!"  
"Yes I can. This, here, this is me keeping you here."   
You abscond but before you close the door you manage a "By the way, we're moving to New York."  
You close the door at the perfect time and block the second lamp she throws.   
That was the last one in the room. Looks like she'll be staying in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sew that chapter is actually slightly longer than it would have been   
> i am trying out my chapter lengthening method   
> slowly but surel;y it should work  
> although i cant really write jade i'm sorry  
> but ill lelt you guys in on a secre t i have (good(happy)) plans for those two hehehe   
> yes   
> thank


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tihs is fucking short  
> alew a reminder thast from this point on i have no idea where i'm going with this  
> yescontinue

The day of the move you are completely amazed that bro actually got the whole building completely cleared. You take one last walk through and everything is clean. Well, clean of blood bodies and other things. You know better than to ask about it though.  
You feel Dave's arms slide around your middle from behind, and him nuzzle your neck with his nose.

"Ready to go?" He asks, voice slightly muffled, breath warm against your skin. 

"Yeah. It's just... strange. Leaving." You reply. 

"I know. I'm just more concerned about who we're going to meet when we get there." He tells you. 

"Me too."

 

The drive is long and boring and jade won't shut up for all the time that she's awake. When you finally get there you couldn't be happier to get out of the vehicle and stretch your legs. what you aren't expecting when you get there is a huge mansion.  
"Bro, are you sure this is the right place?" This couldn't possibly be the place. This house is huge. It's three stories high at _least_. It probably has high ceilings too. Even outside is huge, perfect, even. Too perfect. Perfectly moved lawn, perfectly trimmed hedges, perfectly placed statues and walkways. You're still admiring the scenery when suddenly you feel as if you have to move, out of the way, and fast. Your instincts are proven right when a statue explodes into pieces right where your head was. You're immediately in your defencive mode.  
You're also completely thrown off guard when Bro pats you on the back and lets out a roar of laughter. You can't help it, you stare, and gape.  
"Dave, Kid, This is Roxy." when you turn forward again you come face to face with the most badass looking woman you've ever seen. She's wearing a white off the shoulder tee shirt and a pink miniskirt. But she's holding one of the biggest guns you've ever seen and how did you even dodge that?  
You see the outline of someone standing behind her though, and you tilt your head to get a better look. It's another girl, probably your age, She looks exactly like Dave.  
"And this is Rose, my daughter. And your," She points to Dave. "sister."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is sew fucking late holy shit  
> im sorry  
> ive had like a paragraph of a draft sitting for like a week  
> thanks to timerariousConvolution for helping me out of my rut though thank friend

You're only in the front long enough to be shocked before you're quickly ushered inside, where you're immediately pinned down, tied, and hoisted over some guy's shoulder potato sack style. You instantly regret not taking Daves offer of learning how to escape rope ties. 

"What the hell!" You yell at your captor. You can hear Dave shouting near the front of the house, probably just as surprised as you. 

Suddenly you're dropped into a room and told you have ten minutes to figure out how to escape. 

This is probably the worst day ever.

It takes you a whole two hours to get out of the ropes.

It takes you fifteen more minutes to find something to unlock the door. The room was clearly emptied out for the purpose of locking you in. You can see indents and scratches in the flooring where furniture used to be. 

You cautiously open the door to find no one in the hall. You quietly make your way down the hall toward the incredibly quiet sound of people talking near the end of it. 

"Hello." You nearly jump out of your skin. You turn around to see Rose smirking, slightly. She's a pretty girl. She looks a lot like Dave, you can see how they're related. 

"Don't scare me like that." You tell her.

"It took you longer than expected to get out of there. Dave got out of his in five minutes." She has this look on her face, that says she's amused but expected more from you.

"It made me regret not taking up Dave's offer to teach me how to get out of the ropes quickly, if thats what you're getting at." Then it occurs to you that they did that to Dave too. "Wait, you did that to Dave too?"

"Of course. It wouldn't be fair if it was only you." You realize you've started walking down the hall with her when you enter the room everyone is in.

"Look who decided to show up." Bro quips and you shoot him a glare. Dave jumps over the couch and wraps his arms around you. You return it quickly.

"You are learning how to escape ropes. No arguments." Dave tells you. 

"I wasn't going to." You scan the room and realize jade is sitting n the couch like its the most normal thing ever and you are completely confused. 

"She decided to behave I guess. We've been talking, she's pretty cool." Dave tells you before you can ask. 

"Her objective isn't cool." You counter.


	10. Chapter 10

You end up talking to her and you find out that yes, Jade is actually a cool person. You're annoyed with yourself for thinking that. 

Rose escorts you and Dave to your room, and tells you she and Jade will be sharing hers. As soon as they're out of earshot you tell Dave you don't really trust Jade. 

"I mean, yes okay, she's actually really nice and sweet and stuff but I know what she wants and as if she'd just suddenly become okay with everything like that! We've been holding her hostage for days!" 

"I dunno, you suddenly became okay with things too, remember? And she is your sister. Maybe the bloodlust runs in the family." He's teasing you, but he has a point. You just kind of gave up and went with things after a while. You learned to love it. 

"I'm still going to be suspicious." 

 

You and Jade later come to an agreement that she can tell Him that she's found you but she is by no means allowed to tell him where you are. It's probably a bad idea, but it's too late to go back on it now.

You and Jade spend a good amount of time together, when you're not on jobs or with Dave. Actually, the four of you, Dave, Jade, Rose and yourself, spend a lot of time together. You all get along well, and you've almost become as inseparable as Dave and yourself. Almost. You always get mad when they bring up the baking incident and Dave has to calm you down, even though he usually helps them tease you. But thats another story.

 

You're watching a movie with Dave when Jade comes in looking panicked. You know what's wrong before she says anything. 

"How long do I have?" You ask. Dave looks between you two until it clicks in. 

_He_ has sent people after you.

"I don't know. He only told me that he did. He didn't say when, or who, or where. I'm sorry." You get up off the couch and give her a hug. It's not her fault. You told her she could tell him. It's your own fault. 

"Where's Bro?" You look over to Dave still on the couch, leaning over the back. You release Jade to lean against the back of the couch beside Dave. 

"On a job. He won't be back until morning. Jade, you should try to find out who he sent in the meantime. Lie to him. Tell him you'll help them but you can't unless you know who they are." Dave tells her. 

"I will. I'll be back as soon as I find anything out." And with that she leaves the room. 

"Do you think she'll actually help them? I mean that is why she tried to find me in the first place." Dave moves behind you on the couch, reaches up and kisses you on the cheek.

"You know what will happen if she does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i do plan on actually writing the baking incident but it'll be separate from this story in the series


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i havent done fanfic in so long im sorry if my characterization sucks ass  
> its just family issues and life and stuff  
> also i know its short im already started on the next chapter im gonna try to write a few and then post them periodically

You inform Bro of the situation as soon as he returns from his job. He is less than impressed. He mentions something about how he should have done it when he had the chance. You don't want to think of the implications. You're still angry with yourself for thinking Jade is cool. You don't want to think of her as cool. Sometimes you forget you're supposed to be suspicious of her though. But you think you'll remember from now on, given that your life as a Strider is currently under threat. Maybe Bro should have done it when he had the chance. 

You're sitting on the floor in a hallway lost in thought when Dave finds you. 

"-ohn. John. Hey, John. Come in John. This is earth, attempting communication. Do you copy?" Dave is crouching in front of you, waving his hand in your face. You thought he was doing his photography thing. You smack his hand out of your face. 

"I thought you were doing your photography thing." 

"I was. I'm done for now. Have you been sulking this whole time?" 

"I wasn't sulking." You say with a slight pout. You remember how happy Dave was when Mom said he could turn one of the rooms into a darkroom. he wouldn't shut up for days. He was going to teach you how to develop photos, but you didn't exactly want to so against your better judgements you brought up the baking incident of your own volition. It worked though. He immediately dropped the idea for fear of his precious darkroom getting ruined. 

"Well what else are you doing sitting in the middle of the hall staring into space like a child dreaming of stars they'll never reach?"

"I was thinking." You reply. 

"Did it hurt?" He smirks. 

"No. Shut up." 

"I have something else to think about." You furrow your brows at him. 

"What's that?" 

"Bro caught me when I was looking for you. He told me Jake's coming to stay here for a while. Mom caught me after that and said she's got a childhood friend coming for a visit. We're gonna have a house full and we're gonna have to be on guard on top of that. It's gonna be a hell of a next couple weeks." 

"Great. Just great. Why is Jake coming here? I thought he was fine where he was."

"I have no idea. But you know our business, shit happens. Not a whole lot to be done about it now. Bro said we can expect him in a few days." Dave stands from his crouching position and stretches. "I dunno much about the other one either, but for now can we move somewhere more comfortable? I'm getting tired of sitting like this." He continues as he crouches back down. 

"You can move somewhere else but it ain't gonna be more comfortable." Bro interjects out of seemingly nowhere. He appears behind dave and you have to fight the urge to jump but Dave remains unaffected. "We've got a job to do." And with that he disappears once again. He had probably been watching you two the entire time waiting for a opening to appear. Which was kind of a cool thing about Bro, he didn't interrupt you two much unless it was of great importance. 

 

Fifteen minutes later you're standing in your uniform by the front doors. You talk with Rose while Dave finishes getting ready. You've long since learned not to be the last one ready. 

You think you're acting normal and talking with Rose with all your normal assholery but Rose knows something is up. Luckily Dave appears before she can start extensively interrogating you. 

As you're walking out the door Rose stops you. 

"It's okay to be afraid." 

 

This was going to be a long job. You're completely distracted by what may happen that you almost give yourself away twice. Bro is going to kill you when you get back. You try to take deep breaths and regulate your breathing but your mind continues to wander. The next time your mind wanders you take out your small knife (The one that Bro insists you keep on you.) and cut across the back of your left forearm. It isn't too deep but its deep enough to get you to focus a bit better. 

You're lying in wait for your target when you feel an arm wrap around your neck and a hand cover your mouth. As if you would scream, you know better than that. That doesn't keep you from panicking that an unknown person is now holding you hostage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for sticking with it this far


End file.
